Rebranding of Twitter as 'X' results in temporary blocking in Indonesia

San Francisco: Elon Musk's rebranding of Twitter as 'X' has resulted in the microblogging platform being temporarily blocked in Indonesia, as the domain had previously been used to promote “negative” content.

According to Indonesia's Ministry of Communication and Informatics, the domain had previously been used by sites that did not adhere to the country's strict laws against pornography and gambling, reports Al Jazeera.

Director General of Information and Public Communication at the ministry, Usman Kansong, stated that the government has been in touch with X to gain clarity on the nature of the website. "Earlier today, we spoke with representatives from Twitter and they will send a letter to us to say that X.com will be used by Twitter," Kansong was quoted as saying.

Due to the recent move, Indonesians are currently unable to access the platform, which has approximately 24 million users in a population of about 270 million people, the report said.

In 2022, Indonesian authorities had urged websites such as Netflix, Google, Instagram, and Facebook to remove "content deemed unlawful, or that disturbs public order”, or face shutdown.

Netflix and TikTok were previously banned in the country, in 2016 and 2018, for "inappropriate content". Musk announced the sudden switch as part of a larger plan to transform Twitter into a "super app" similar to China's WeChat.

In theory, X can be used for payments, messaging, and other non-social tasks. Meanwhile, Musk has had a long history with the letter and brand "X". The most well-known example is SpaceX, another company in which he serves as CEO.

Then there's xAI, Musk's AI-focused venture, and X Corp, his corporate shell firm. He even named his son "X Æ A-Xii". Musk bought back the X.com domain in 2017 after being the original owner since 1999. — IANS